Ferrari F1 News

Felipe Massa setting the fastest time this afternoon around the 5.451 kilometres of the Shanghai International Circuit can be seen as the icing on the cake, at the end of the first day of practice for the Chinese Grand Prix. However, to continue the analogy, for Scuderia Ferrari it is the “cake” itself that matters most and that too showed signs of being well prepared.

The speed of development in Formula 1 moves on at such a fast pace that Fridays at a Grand Prix, particularly in the early part of the season are incredibly hectic for all the teams. The job sheet would be full enough if it was simply a case of preparing the car as well as possible for the race weekend, but these days, the three hours of track time must also find room for testing new components aimed at keeping the development of the cars, the F138 in the case of the Prancing Horse, moving forward throughout the year. So far this season, there had not been much time to run new parts, given that the first two races in Melbourne and Sepang took place so far from home and only one week apart.
...

Under sunny and clear blue skies in the massive Shanghai paddock, rather than the smog the weather forecasters had predicted, Fernando Alonso tackled the usual Thursday session with his friends in the press and even three weeks on, the first topic was that Malaysian race retirement. “I am not concerned about the fact I did not score points in Malaysia, because everyone has at least two or three DNFs per season in Formula 1,” said a philosophical Fernando. “Although I hope not, I guess it will happen to me again this year, because of the law of averages. We need to be prepared for that and also be prepared to take any opportunity and try and score maximum points when it happens to our rivals. It was a shame that there was that contact at the second corner, but as regards stopping or not stopping, I think the damage was already done. Now, we will try and be a little bit more careful, leave a bit more of a margin and hopefully, it won’t happen again.” As to a suggestion from a journalist that Vettel, who was involved in that collision, had slowed deliberately to impede Alonso, the Ferrari man denied it. “That’s impossible,” he insisted. “Because there are 22 cars on the track and you don’t know what line the drivers behind you will take.”
...

After ten years of coming to the Shanghai circuit for the Chinese Grand Prix, the veteran F1 media know they have a busy time on Thursday as they negotiate the labyrinth of paths that lead to the team hospitality areas, perched on stilts above an artificial lake in the paddock. But they all found their way to the Scuderia Ferrari unit for the regular pre-weekend chat with Felipe Massa.

The Brazilian was first faced with the statistic that, if he is quicker than Alonso on Saturday afternoon, he will be the first of the Spaniard’s F1 team-mates to out-qualify him five times in a row. “Honestly I never thought about it,” admitted a surprised Felipe. “All I can say is that I’m pleased with my start to the season and want to continue in this fashion. That statistic isn’t what gives me pleasure. What I like is to go well and to feel confident in the car. These sorts of figures only give you problems. I just want to get on with doing a good job.”
...

This year, the Chinese Grand Prix celebrates its tenth birthday, with every race having taken place at the massive and monolithic Shanghai International Circuit. As Formula 1 has expanded its horizons in recent years, it has generally headed for nations that were expanding their economy. That was definitely the case when the sport landed in the country with the second highest Gross Domestic Product. Since then, China’s growth on the automotive front has run at the speed of a Formula 1 machine, making it the second largest market in the world for Ferrari road cars: just under 800 cars were shipped to the area known as Greater China in 2012, with no less than 500 going to China itself. Motor sport is expanding in the region and later in the year, the Shanghai circuit hosts a round of the Asia-Pacific series of the Ferrari Challenge one-make championship. The Grand Prix teams have yet to perform to a full house at this circuit on the outskirts of Shanghai and that is unlikely to change until a Chinese driver makes it to the grid. Here too the Maranello marque is helping to promote motor sport, and the Ferrari Driver Academy is working with the Chinese Automobile Federation to increase awareness of the sport and to assist young drivers.
...

Ten points was certainly not a haul that matched expectations and, above all, potential. Of course yesterday’s result was a cold shower – even if it’s hard to picture such a thing in the Malaysian heat – for Scuderia Ferrari after Saturday’s excellent qualifying. But it’s also clear that a detailed analysis of how the weekend went reveals plenty of positives, especially from a technical point of view. The competitive performance of the F138, which was already shown during the previous weekend in Melbourne, was confirmed on a circuit that is much more meaningful than the unusual characteristics of Albert Park.

It’s true that, especially over a single dry lap, there is still ground to catch up – particularly compared to Red Bull but also to Mercedes – but it was in race pace that the Scarlet cars showed their strength. That could also be seen yesterday afternoon when Felipe Massa put on his dry tyres.
...

Felipe Massa fought back strongly after slipping down the order from his front row start position, to bring home valuable points for fifth place. Fernando Alonso’s 200th Grand Prix is not one he will care to remember, as it lasted only just over a lap, before ending in the gravel. Sebastian Vettel headed home a Red Bull Racing one-two ahead of Mark Webber. Completing the podium was Lewis Hamilton for Mercedes. Inevitably here in Sepang, the rain appeared minutes before the cars were due to leave the shelter of the garages, so the Intermediate and Extreme rain tyres were prepared, as the rain intensified. It was heavy in parts and several cars went off the track on their way to the grid, which resembled a strange Garden Party as all the teams erected temporary tents over their cars. With 15 minutes to the start, the rain began to ease, turning to a light drizzle, as team strategists faced the traditional Malaysian puzzle.
...

One can keep calm and not count one’s chickens, but one can also enjoy the moment and take satisfaction from a job well done. That was definitely the mood in the Scuderia Ferrari camp here in Sepang after Felipe Massa secured his first front row grid position since Bahrain in 2010 at the end of qualifying. The Brazilian was right to call it a team effort, for two reasons: firstly because the tricky conditions meant it involved keeping a cool head on the pit wall and in the garage and secondly, because Fernando Alonso is next on the time sheet, meaning he starts the Malaysian Grand Prix from third place right behind pole man Sebastian Vettel in the Red Bull.

After the thrilling session, both Ferrari men suggested that the rain which affected the top ten shoot-out in Q3 might have helped their cause, but nevertheless, the F138 was good enough to be in the hunt throughout
...